Every Sunday, Indonesian migrant workers in Taiwan gather at Taipei’s central train station to meet with their peers. In addition to providing a place to bond, these public spaces also offer a chance to follow a range of educational programmes that could lead to financial security when they return home.
This week, a church is attacked in Indonesia, a sea curfew gets extended again in Sabah, Singaporeans wonder about censorship, and we all start speculating once more about the site for a Trump-Kim Summit.
Indonesia menuju pemilihan umum pertengahan April ini dan kampanye sudah berlangsung penuh. Selagi Jokowi sang petahana berhadapan lagi dengan jenderal purnawirawan TNI-AD Prabowo Subianto, adu ujar pun membara.
Indonesia heads to the polls in mid-April, and campaigning is already in full swing. As the incumbent Jokowi faces off once more against former army general Prabowo Subianto, a war of words has been unleashed.
The Lumad community in the Philippines is speaking out against ‘Cha-Cha’—Duterte’s proposed constitutional changes that would transfer power to the local level and lift restrictions on foreign investment. Mindanao’s indigenous community says this will leave them vulnerable to the increasing presence of extractive industry.
Our first round-up of 2019! This week: smoking bans in Malaysia, public transport in Ho Chi Minh City, criminal cases in Indonesia and a family feud in Singapore rears its head again.
UU ITE telah lama dinilai sebagai produk hukum dengan pasal-pasal “karet” yang rawan disalahgunakan “penguasa”. Kini muncul juga kekhawatiran bahwa UU tersebut sedang digunakan untuk membungkam para aktivis mahasiswa sekaligus mengekang kebebasan mereka untuk berpendapat.
Critics have long considered Indonesia’s UU ITE law to be elastic and easily abused. But there are now fears that the cyber law is increasingly being used to muffle student activism and curb free speech on Indonesian campuses.
The World Bank positions itself as a source of support for local communities across Southeast Asia through its funded projects. But there are those who feel that it has failed in its mission to address grassroots voices.
Chiang Mai in Thailand’s north provides its residents and visitors with a very different vibe from Bangkok in the south. And the local street art community is adding a splash of colour to the historical city.
It's been a big year for us, finding our feet and growing our platform. As we hurtle towards the new year, members of the New Naratif team pick out some highlights from 2018 that you shouldn't miss.
The national costume segment of the Miss Universe beauty pageant sees women parading outfits ranging from the sublime to the surreal. Designing these costumes can be a challenge for teams in heterogeneous countries, but also a perfect opportunity for nation-states to engage in public relations.
Our final wrap for 2018: Myanmar struggles with its peace process, concerns over internet freedom persist in Vietnam, Singapore's civil society braces for a rough 2019, and Malaysians hope for progress after a momentous year.
Cultural products, like pop music, might not be as overtly in opposition to the powerful in Cambodia, but aren’t free from censorship or regulation. After all, controlling art is one way to control the narrative.
Bagi tahanan politik Papua, penjara bukanlah akhir segalanya. Mereka tetap berkomitmen untuk memperjuangkan kemerdekaan, bahkan setelah mereka dibebaskan dari penjara, sembari berjuang untuk membenahi hidup mereka setelah melalui masa-masa yang sulit.
For Papuan political prisoners, being locked up is not the end. Committed as they are to the struggle for independence, many prisoners continue to fight for their cause upon release, even as they struggle to pick up the pieces of their disrupted lives.
The stories to watch in Southeast Asia this week: the Singapore-Malaysia frenemies get testy with each other, Tanjung Balai is reported to be the least tolerant in Indonesia, and the Vietnamese are still obsessing over football.
Singapura sering diperbincangkan sebagai sebuah keajaiban ekonomi, namun penekanannya yang besar pada meritokrasi dan kemandirian dapat merusak pemahaman seseorang terhadap sejumlah persoalan seperti ketidaksetaraan, kemiskinan, dan tunawisma.
Over 500 informal jade pickers have been killed in landslides in Myanmar in the past five years. Unsafe conditions in the jade mines continue to put people at risk, and families of those who have been killed say that independent inspections and better law enforcement are urgently needed.
Human rights groups and foreign journalists are often barred from entering West Papua, allowing the Indonesian authorities to control the narrative. Local journalists are fighting back by reporting on human rights abuses, often at risk to their own safety.
